FOC Crew Treated "Worse than Sheep"

Posted by Communications Team on February 24, 2011

ITF National Coordinator Dean Summers claims that the crew are treated worse than the cargo of live sheep destined for the Arab market place.

The 33 year-old cargo ship does have a current agreement with the ITF for wages and conditions for the 80 mainly Pakistani crew however the ITF have received documentation that the agreement has been breached for an entire year.

"What is most upsetting is that the documents the crew have been forced to sign surrendering their human rights to shore leave and threatening "harsh punishment" for any crew who talks to Australian authorities," said Summers.

The crew are paid less than half of their entitlements and are compensated with as little as 60c per hour for overtime worked.

Australian government officials are unable to intervene until the Federal Government have ratified the ILO Convention on seafarers’ rights, the Maritime Labour Convention.

This ship is owned by "Arab Ship Management" in Jordan, flagged in the Bahamas, crewed by Filipino and Pakistani seafarers and chartered by the Western Australian based Livestock Shipping Services in South Perth.

Mr Summers called on the Gillard Federal Government to fast track the MLC for the safety and security of all international seafarers: “Lives are at stake here and the government has a responsibility to get this body of work completed to prevent these atrocities.”